TOURISTS' STORIES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16665, 25 September 1914, Page 3

TOURISTS' STORIES.

MOBILISATION SCENES. THE RUSH FROM THE CONTINENT. Tourists at Charing Cross early in August said that Boulogne was in a state of turmoil. " Everything," said one, "is in movement. Soldiers are being enrolled, troops are marching, bands playing; everything is animated. " There were extraordinary scenes when the mobilisation proclamation wa s issued. Women dropped to their knees and wept; men rushed about as if demented, and the English and American visitors looked on the scene with an air of depression. Today matters Became worse, and motorcars belonging to English and American people were commandeered by the military." A lady passenger added that Boulogne was very excited, and many of those who wished to lea.ve found ::o room left on the boats. Those who managed to got on the boat upon which she' crossed filled three, long trains to Charing Cross. "Under a requisition," she add'erl, "everything considered of use to the military is being seized—no matter to whom it belongs—motor-cars, horses, and I saw several polo ponies taken." AMERICANS' PLIGHT. Passengers from Etaples said that only those with return tickets stood a ehiinco of getting to London, and Americans wore in a sad plight. They had no 'English gold, and American paper money was refused. When the declaration of general mobilisation was made, a man caane round with a drum and a trumpet. Having beaten the drum and sounded a rail on the trumpet, he proceeded to road the dcefaration, and the women burst into tears. One woman's father, husband and four brothers were called upon for service. "COMMANDEERED" CAR. A gentleman who came by ono of. the trio of trains arriving at Charing Cross about five o'clock said: "I have had iio food for sixteen hours, and dm starving. I was motoring on the Continent in a brand new 40 h.p. car. 1 got to Boulogne, and put my car in a garage while I. went to make inquiries about the departure of the boat. " When I got back 1 was staggered and wild to find that my splendid car had been 'collared' by the Government. I gave tho necessary particulars concerning the vehicle, and I may see it again or I may not. "The order to mobilise the French army camo at 7.30 on Friday night, when I was at Soissons- It had arrived unofficially a little earlier, and everybody was on the alert. Directly the official delivered the document at the hotel where I was staying the chef left, then the head waiter went out, and next the hall porter departed, so we were in a pleasant plight. POURING OUT OF FRANCE. - "People everywhere are pouring out of France. At several hotels the visitors were given twenty-four hours' notice to leave. There w'as a fearful struggle to got seats at Paris in the boat train for Boulogne, but the utmost consideration was shown to English subjects. In a number of cases French people were turned out of the trains to make room for Britishers, and the traditional politeness of the Frenchman to ' foreigners [was never shown to greater degree than in this instance." A Los Angeles gentleman who was on his way to Berlin with his wife and son, said: "The money question in Paris is.a most awkward one. Everybody was trying to pay bills yesterday, but unless gold or silver was offered the debt could not be liquidated, and consequently people had to live on credit or leave—and they left. If you went into a restaurant you were met by the proprietor, who bluntly' said to you:'"' Monsieur, if you have gold or silver you can eat; if you have not, you must leave.' "We had an awful time getting out of Paris," he continued. "The crowds were immense, but we managed to get seats. The American and other foreigners advised all their people to get away from tho place at the earliest possible moment. NOT ENOUGH TRAINS- " The great lack at the moment is railway accommodation. There are not nearly enough trains to carry all the people who are rushing from the city, and this results in a terrible congestion at the stations." An elderly gentleman, with rather s worried look, said: "They would not accept my money, and so I had to leave. My party got to the station about two and a half hours ahead of time, but it took over an hour and a half to get our trunks registered. It was impossible to get a barrow to put our boxes on, and we had to carry them in by hand. I was told, and I quite believe it, that there were 45,000 iioople inside the station last night." A clergyman who had come from the German frontier at Belfort said his .party was eight hours late on arriving at Charing Cross. The delay was principally caused on the Gorman frontier, where the Kaiser's soldiers were trying to wreck the railway lines, and the French soldiers were present in great force to prevent them. All the villagers were out in the streets as the train passed by, both in Germany and in France, and intense excitement prevailed all round. Two Lancashire business men gave a serio-comic recital of their experiences in Paris. "We left London yesterday at one o'clock," one of them 'observed, "and have had nothing more sustaining than a piece of cake and a little liquid refreshment ever since. When we arrived we found the place in confusion, and instead of the promised ; vehicle to meet us to take us to our hotel there was nothing at all. After a wait of some hours a friendly guard took us in charge and piloted us to our hotel, where we had to sleep two in a bed. There was a fearful noise going od outside, and after a fitful sleep of a few hours we got up. We were then told we had to leave Paris, and askedfor breakfast first. This was refused us. and we were turned out. At the station they refused us admission until we had shown our tickets. "At Boulogne we left 100 people on the quay as we steamed out The ticket examination at Boulogne was very severe, and we not only had to explain that we were Englishmen, but what part of England we came from " LORD MAYOR'S JOURNEY A traveller by the last of the three trains was the Lord Mayor of London (Sir Vansittart Bowater), who had left London for a holiday on the Continent. Sir Vansittart was looking very well. ami said he had experienced no trouble at all. He had plenty 0 f friends in Belgium, and these made, things easy for him. Ho motored as far as Dieppe, and when he read of % mobilisation proceedings he went on at once to Boulogne, • ...